Air India's London-bound flight returns to New Delhi after passenger’s ‘unruly behavior’

An Air India flight destined for London returned to New Delhi after departure due to the "serious unruly behavior" of a passenger on board, the airline said on Monday.

In a statement by an Air India spokesman on Monday morning, Air India flight AI 111 scheduled to operate Delhi-London Heathrow on April 10, 2023, returned shortly after departure due to the "serious unruly behavior of a passenger on board who did not pay heed to verbal and written warnings," and continued with unruly behavior, causing physical harm to two of the cabin crew members.

The statement said that the pilot in command decided to return to Delhi and the passenger was handed over to the security personnel upon landing.

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A case has been lodged with the police, it said, adding that "safety, security, and dignity of all on board is important to us at Air India."

"We are providing all possible support to the affected crew members. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers and have rescheduled the flight to depart for London this afternoon," the airline said.

Today's incident has come months after a drunk man urinated on a woman co-passenger onboard an Air India plane flying from New York to Delhi.